coot 
more depressed than in the rails :md galtinules, their near- 
est relatives. They swim with ease, build a large coarse 
nest of reeds and rank herbage by the water's edfje, and 
lay numerous creamy eggs spotted in dark colors. There 
European Coot (Fulica atra). 
are 12 or more species, of most parts of the world, much 
resembling one another, all being blackish or slate-colored, 
and about 15 inches long. The common or bald coot of 
Europe is F. atra ; that of America is F. americana, some- 
times called s/mjTfer. The flesh is edible. 
2. The foolish guillemot, Lomvia troile. [Local, 
Scotch.] 3. A scoter; one of the large black 
sea-ducks of the genera (Edemia, Pelionetta, 
and Mclanetta. The black scoter, (Edemia ameri- 
cana, is called black coot, and the velvet scoter, Mela- 
netta fusca velvetina, is the white-nnnged coot. [New 
Eng.J 
4. A simpleton; a silly fellow. [Prov. or 
colloq.] 
COOter (ko'ter), . 1. The common box-turtle, 
Cistudo Carolina, of the United States: so 
called in the Southern States. 2. A turtle 
of the family Clemmyidce, Pseudemys concinna, 
also known as the Florida cooler. 
COOtfoot (kot'fut), n. The red or gray phala- 
rope, Phalaropus fulicarius : so called from 
the fringes of the toes, like those of a coot. 
COOt-fpOted (kot'fut" ed), a. Having the toes 
margined with membrane, like those of a coot : 
specifically applied to a phalarope, originally 
called by Edwards the cooted-footed tringa. 
coot-grebe (kot'grSb), . A sun-bird, sun- 
grebe, or finfoot. See Heliornithidw. 
COOth (koth), n. [So. (Orkney) also cuth, a 
young coalfish.] A local British name of the 
coalfish. 
COOtie (ko'ti), a. [See cutikins.'] Rough-legged: 
an epithet applied to birds whose legs are clad 
with feathers. [Scotch.] 
1252 
cop 4 (kop), r. t. ; pret. and pp. copped, ppr. 
copping. [< cop*, .] To capture or arrest 
as a prisoner : as, he was copped for stealing. 
[Thieves' slang.] 
cop 5 (kop), (. t. ; pret. and pp. cupped, ppr. cop- 
ping. [E. dial. ; cf. coup 1 .'] To throw under- 
hand. [Prov. Eng.] 
copaiba, (ko-pa'ba), n. [Also written copaiva, 
copayva; Sp. and Pg. copaiba (F. copaltu) (It. 
copiba, Florio), < Braz. cupauba.] The balsam 
or resinous juice flowing from incisions made 
in the stem of a plant, Copaifera officinalis, and 
several other species of the genus, growing in 
Brazil, Peru, and elsewhere. See Copaifera. 
It has a peculiar aromatic odor, and a bitterish, persis- 
tently acrid, and nauseous taste. It consists of an acid 
resin dissolved in a volatile oil which has the composition 
and general chemical properties of oil of turpentine, but 
witli a higher boiling-point. The balsam is used in medi- 
cine, especially in affections of the mucous membranes. 
It is also employed in the arts, as a medium for vitriflable 
colors used in china-painting. Also called capim. 
Copaifera (ko-pa'fe-ra), n. [NL., < copai(ba) 
+ L. ferre = E. Mar*,] A genus of legumi- 
nous shrubs and trees, natives of tropical Amer- 
ica, with the exception of two African species. 
They have abruptly pinnate coriaceous leaves, whitish 
apetalous flowers, and one-seeded pods, and are the source 
of the balsam of copaiba. The principal species from which 
the balsam is derived are C. Langsdarfii, of Brazil ; C. offi- 
Flowering Branch of Copaifcra 
ciiuilis, of Venezviela and Central America ; and C. Martii 
and C. Guianenxix, of Guiana and northern Brazil. The 
wood of C. Martii, known as purpleheart, is of a beauti- 
ful purple color when freshly cut, and has great strength 
and durability. The African species yield various kinds 
of copal. 
Ye cootie moorcocks, crousely craw I 
Burnt, Tarn Samson's Elegy. 
cop 1 (kop), n. [< ME. cop, dat. coppe, top, esp. copaiva (ko-pa'ya), n. Same as copaiba. 
of a hill, head (of a person), < AS. cop (copp-), COpaivic (k9-pa' vik), a. [< copaiva + -ic.~\ 
top, summit (a rare word), = OS.'copp (in deriv. Pertaining to or derived from copaiba. Copai- 
coppod, crested: see copped) = MD. hop, head, ** c a 4 d ' a " acid obtained from the non-volatile part, or 
~ - ' ' oleoresm, of copaiba balsam. It is soluble in alcohol, and 
forms crystalline salts with the alkalis. 
copaiye-wood (ko-pa'ya-wud), n. [<.copaiye, 
repr. the native name, + wood 1 .} The wood of 
Vochysia Guianensis, a tree of British Guiana. 
. , - -. It is compact, but not durable. 
early confusion of the forms and senses of copi copal (ko'pal) n. [= D. F. Sp. Pg. copal = G. 
with those of cup and 0m*l = cape* = cap*: Dan. kopaf, < Hex. eopalli, a genlric name of 
see these words.] 1 The head or top of a res i ns .] A hard, transparent, amber-like resin, 
thing; especially, the top of a hill. [Old and the product of many Different tropical trees, 
OV 'J _. - melting at a high temperature, and used in the 
D. kop, head, pate, person, man, = MLG. kop, 
LG. kopp, liead (> G. koppe, kuppe, head, top, 
summit; cf. OF. dim. copet, cmipct, summit), 
= MHG. G. Icopf, head, pate: see the vari- 
ant cob 1 . There appears to have been an 
Tho gan I up the hill to gon, 
And fond upon the cop a won [dwelling]. 
Chaucer, House of Fame, 1. 1166. 
For cop they [the Britons] use to call 
The tops of many hills. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, xxx. 147. 
2. A tuft on the head of birds. 3. A round 
piece of wood fixed on the top of a beehive. 
[Prov. Bug.] 4. A mound or bank; a heap 
of anything. [North. Eng.] 5. An inclosure 
with a ditch around it. [Prov. Eng.] 6. A 
fence. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 7. A merlon, 
or portion of a battlement. 8. The conical ball 
manufacture of varnishes. Some of the softer kinds 
are also called tmime. Copal may be dissolved by diges- 
tion in linseed-oil, with a heat a little less than sufficient 
to boil or decompose the oil. This solution diluted with 
spirit of turpentine forms a beautiful transparent varnish, 
which, when properly applied and slowly dried, is exceed- 
ingly durable and hard. There are various methods of pre- 
paring it. '"' 
from Zar 
nous tre< 
iambicetue, and often dug from the ground in a semi-fossil 
state. Several varieties are obtained from the western 
coast of Africa, all probably furnished by species of Co- 
paifera. Manila or Indian copal is obtained from Vateria 
Indica. Kauri copal, from New Zealand and New Cale- 
of thread formed on the spindle of a wheel or doma ' ls ! 01 ! n V 1 . th ?, 801 ' ln lar s e masses, the product of 
sninninir framfi Alsn nulled //> Q A +,,>>o s P ecles of Aqathw (Dammara). South American copals 
spmmng-irame. Also called coppin. 9. Atube are obtained from Hymencea Courbaril and other allied 
upon which silk thread is sometimes wound, in- leguminous trees, as well as from some burseraceous spe- 
stead of being made into skeins. 10 A mea- cies - (See arnnw.) The Mexican copal-trees are species 
sure of peas, 15 sheaves in the field and 16 in ' J* or . tller g era l the same order. -Chacaze 
the barn. Halliwell. [Prov. 
. 
tercoppe, a spider ; or else a particular applica- 
= cobweb.} A spider. 
C0p 3 t, n. An obsolete form of cup. 
COD 4 (kop), . [Origin obscure.] A policeman. 
[Thieves' slang.] 
copalche, copalchi (ko-pal'che, -chi), n. 1. 
The Croton niveus, a eiiphorbiaceous shrub of 
Mexico and Central America. Its bark has 
the color and taste of cascarilla, and probably 
cope 
possesses similar properties. 2. A Brazilian 
tree, Strychnos Pseudo-Quiita, the bark of which 
is largely used in Brazil as a febrifuge. 
copalin, copaline (ko'pal-in), . [< copal + 
-iift, -iwe 2 .] Highgate resin ; a fossil resin found 
in roundish lumps in the blue clay of High- 
gate Hill in London, England, resembling copal 
resin in appearance and some of its character- 
istic's. 
copalm (ko'pam), . A name for the sweet- 
gum tree of North America, Liquidambar Sty- 
ruciflua. 
coparcenary (ko-par'se-na-ri), n. [< co- 1 + 
parcenary. Cf. coparcener.'] Partnership in in- 
heritance; joint heirship ; joint right of succes- 
sion, or joint succession, to an estate of inheri- 
tance in lands. In English law the term is used only 
of females, because if there are sons the eldest takes the 
whole estate. In nearly all the United States the word is 
superseded by its equivalent tenancy in common. 
coparcener (ko-par'se-ner), n. [< co- 1 + par- 
cener."] A coheir ; one who has an equal por- 
tion of the inheritance in lands of his or her 
ancestor with others; in Eng. law, a female co- 
heir, or a coheiress. See coparcenary. 
Where a person seized in fee-simple . . . dies and his 
next heirs are two or more females, . . . they shall all in- 
herit, . . .and these co-heirs are then called coparceners ; 
or, for brevity, parceners only. Blackvtone, Com., 187. 
COparceny (ko-par'se-ni), n. [< coparcen-er 
+ -y.~\ An equal share of an inheritance. 
See coparcenary. 
copartt (ko-part'), v. [< co- 1 + part.'} I. 
trans. To share. 
For of all miseries I hold that chief, 
Wretched to be when none coparts our grief. 
Webster and Rowley, Cure for a Cuckold, v. 1. 
II. intrans. To take a share ; partake. 
How say you, gentlemen, will you copart with me in 
this my dejectednesse ? Ileywood, Royal King. 
copartimentt (ko-par'ti-ment), n. [Var. of 
compartment.'} A compartment. 
Black copartimente show gold more bright. 
Webster, Devil's Law-Case, 1. 2. 
copartmentt (ko-part'ment), n. [Var. of 
compartment.'} A compartment. 
In a copartment ... are his initials. 
Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry, iii. 391. 
copartner (ko-part'ner), n. [< co- 1 + part- 
ner. Ci. coparcener.'} A partner ; a sharer ; 
a partaker : rarely used of partners in busi- 
ness. 
So should I have co-partners in my pain ; 
And fellowship in woe doth woe assuage. 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 789. 
Thus, as a brother, 
A fellow, and co-partner in the empire, 
I do embrace you. 
Fletcher (and another 1), Prophetess, ii. 3. 
copartnership (ko-part'ner-ship), n. [< copart- 
ner + -ship.'] A partnership in an enterprise, 
political, commercial, etc. : as, to form a copart- 
nership in business. 
This close copartnership in government. 
Bmke, A Regicide Peace. 
COpartnery (ko-part'ner-i), n. [< copartner + 
-y.} In Scots law, a contract of copartnership. 
COpastorate (ko-pas'tor-at), n. [< co- 1 + ^s- 
torate.] A joint pastorate. [Bare.] 
With us, copastorateis or assistant ministries do not work 
well. National Baptist, XVII. 740. 
copataint (kop'a-tan), a. [< OF. capitain, cap- 
tain, < ML. capitanetts, lit. pertaining to the 
head (see captain), the E. form being influenced 
by co;) 1 , head.] High-crowned ; pointed. [Rare.] 
Also spelled copotain. Copatain hat, a hat with 
a tall and somewhat conical crown, worn in the seven- 
teenth century. It is the form of hat generally identified 
witli wizards and witches. 
fine villain ! A silken doublet ! a velvet hose ! a scar- 
let cloak ! and a copatain hat ! Shak., T. of the S., v. 1. 
copatriot (kO-pa'tri-ot), n. [< co- 1 + patriot. 
Ci. compatriot.} Same as compatriot. 
copayva (ko-pa'va), n. Same as cojiaiba. 
cope 1 (kop), i. [Formerly also coupe; < ME. 
cope, < AS. *cap or "cape (in comp. cantel-capas, 
ME. cantelcapc, cantiircope, var. ofcatcrc<i/>jin. 
a priest's robe, a dalmatic), also (in glosses) cop 
(= Icel. Jcilpa = Sw. kapa = Dan. kaabe, a cope), 
var. forms of cappe, ca'ppc, a cape, all ult. (like 
ME. cape, < OF. cape, etc.) < L. cappa, capa, a 
cape, cope: see cape 1 and rapi, of which </ 1 
is a doublet.] If. A large outer garment; a 
cloak; a mantle. 
1 kennc liym might, but he [.hulas] is claddc in a cope, 
He cares with a kene face vm-omly to kvs. 
For* ri<t!i, p. 2-2S. 
The side robe or <<>!>? of homely and i-oiirsc clothe, soche 
as the lieggerie philosophies and none els vsen to wcare. 
Udall, tr. of Apophthegms of Erasmus, p. 47. 
